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English Football Tiers


SaintRam

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So, I've been talking to one of my American friends about the tier system of English football - to the extent of explaining the regulated eleven tiers. And a question came up I couldn't answer, and googling it was leading me down a lot of rabbit holes so I thought I'd ask on here.

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Taking tiers 5 and 6 as an example (because its far simpler, and the answer here will be the same further down, just with more steps) I was curious how relegation works when the teams are being separated into more than one league.

How do they keep the North/South structure?

It would be pretty convenient if two teams from the north and two from the south got relegated from the National League.

Or do they not, and it's actually just a mess of teams from all over in each league now? - I'll admit I didn't have the energy to check on the teams geographical situation as it currently stands.

 

Further down the tier system it's a complete mess. The 11th tier is two sets of leagues (23 and 22 leagues) that promotes teams into one group of 19 leagues - so I wont even get started on that. 

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16 minutes ago, SaintRam said:

So, I've been talking to one of my American friends about the tier system of English football - to the extent of explaining the regulated eleven tiers. And a question came up I couldn't answer, and googling it was leading me down a lot of rabbit holes so I thought I'd ask on here.

image.thumb.png.0c8224fe21f440ce3aa73ade9a760614.png

Taking tiers 5 and 6 as an example (because its far simpler, and the answer here will be the same further down, just with more steps) I was curious how relegation works when the teams are being separated into more than one league.

How do they keep the North/South structure?

It would be pretty convenient if two teams from the north and two from the south got relegated from the National League.

Or do they not, and it's actually just a mess of teams from all over in each league now? - I'll admit I didn't have the energy to check on the teams geographical situation as it currently stands.

 

Further down the tier system it's a complete mess. The 11th tier is two sets of leagues (23 and 22 leagues) that promotes teams into one group of 19 leagues - so I wont even get started on that. 

Teams can get shifted between divisions at the same level to keep the North/South, N/S/E/W, etc balance throughout the tiers.

So you'll tend to find it'll be the clubs in central regions that get shifted about as one season they may be classed in the North and the season they make up the numbers in the South.

Burton were an example of this before they reached the Conference, they definitely shifted about between the Unibond (north) and the Beazer Homes (midland) leagues over the years.

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17 minutes ago, Carnero said:

Teams can get shifted between divisions at the same level to keep the North/South, N/S/E/W, etc balance throughout the tiers.

So you'll tend to find it'll be the clubs in central regions that get shifted about as one season they may be classed in the North and the season they make up the numbers in the South.

Burton were an example of this before they reached the Conference, they definitely shifted about between the Unibond (north) and the Beazer Homes (midland) leagues over the years.

Ah that makes sense - I hadn't considered the teams that weren't promoted / relegated moving about.

Thanks Carnero!

 

People may not realise, but the tiered structure of English football is utterly mind-boggling to Americans. The idea that it's even theoretically possible for a team in the Premier League to ever fall out of the "professional" football leagues, or for a team playing in front of 24 people to eventually be professional is completely bizarre to them.

Once they learn about it though, they tend to be way more into the sport. 

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3 minutes ago, SaintRam said:

Ah that makes sense - I hadn't considered the teams that weren't promoted / relegated moving about.

Thanks Carnero!

 

People may not realise, but the tiered structure of English football is utterly mind-boggling to Americans. The idea that it's even theoretically possible for a team in the Premier League to ever fall out of the "professional" football leagues, or for a team playing in front of 24 people to eventually be professional is completely bizarre to them.

Once they learn about it though, they tend to be way more into the sport. 

That's one of the reasons that the FA Cup is (or should be) so special. It's theoretically possible for a team in the very bottom tier to win the FA Cup, or at least get a £1m tie against Man Utd in Rd 3!

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17 hours ago, SaintRam said:

So, I've been talking to one of my American friends about the tier system of English football - to the extent of explaining the regulated eleven tiers. And a question came up I couldn't answer, and googling it was leading me down a lot of rabbit holes so I thought I'd ask on here.

image.thumb.png.0c8224fe21f440ce3aa73ade9a760614.png

Taking tiers 5 and 6 as an example (because its far simpler, and the answer here will be the same further down, just with more steps) I was curious how relegation works when the teams are being separated into more than one league.

How do they keep the North/South structure?

It would be pretty convenient if two teams from the north and two from the south got relegated from the National League.

Or do they not, and it's actually just a mess of teams from all over in each league now? - I'll admit I didn't have the energy to check on the teams geographical situation as it currently stands.

 

Further down the tier system it's a complete mess. The 11th tier is two sets of leagues (23 and 22 leagues) that promotes teams into one group of 19 leagues - so I wont even get started on that. 

I asked the same question to my non league supporting fans, and fans of german divisions tier 4 and below.. and yeah the concensus is you can get shifted between divisions season on season.

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